Oil-cooled equipment harness

ABSTRACT

An oil-cooled equipment harness includes a shielded wire including a conductor, a shielding layer on a periphery of the conductor, and a flexibility, a terminal fitting enclosing a front end part of the shielded wire, a housing enclosing a periphery of the shielded wire a predetermined distance away from the terminal fitting such that shielded wire is exposed from the terminal fitting, the housing including a flange, a first oil entry-preventing means disposed at a space between the shielded wire and the terminal fitting for preventing oil in the shielding case from entering into the conductor, and an oil leak-preventing means disposed at a space between the housing and the shielding case for preventing the oil in the shielding case from leaking out of the shielding case. The terminal fitting and the housing are relatively movable by the shielded wire exposed at between the terminal fitting and the housing.

The present application is based on Japanese patent application No.2010-170863 filed on Jul. 29, 2010, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an oil-cooled equipment harness.

2. Description of the Related Art

An oil cooling system in which an equipment is cooled by an insulatingoil has been used for cooling the interior of equipments whichgenerating heat at high temperature. For example, equipment (hereincalled “oil-cooled equipment”) with the oil-cooling system includes anoil-cooled motor that an oil-cooled motor body is enclosed in a shieldedcase and oil is filled in the shielded case. Recently, the oil-cooledmotor is increasingly developed according as hybrid vehicles andelectric vehicles have been popularized.

JP-A-2003-272729 discloses an oil-cooled motor harness with a connectorstructure for connecting an oil-cooled motor to an inverter.

As shown in FIG. 2, the oil-cooled motor harness 31 in JP-A-2003-272729is connected to the oil-cooled equipment (i.e., oil-cooled motor) thatencloses an oil-cooled motor body 34 in a shielding case 35 of aconductive material. In the shielding case 35, three bus bar-shapedterminals 32 are provided extending from the oil-cooled motor body 45.

The oil-cooled motor harness 31 is comprised of a shielded wire 44, aflange portion 38, a terminal fitting 37, and a casing 39. The shieldedwire 44 is constructed such that a conductor of plural metal thin wiresis enclosed by a cylindrical insulation 41 of an insulating syntheticresin material, a cylindrical shielding layer 42 of braided wires isdisposed on the periphery of the insulation 41, and the shielding layer42 is enclosed by a sheath 43 of a synthetic resin material. At thefront end part of the shielded wire 44, the sheath 43 is removed suchthat the insulation 41 and the shielding layer 42 are exposed andprotruded from the front end of the sheath 43, and the front end part ofthe insulation 41 is further removed such that the conductor 40 isexposed and protruded from the front end of the insulation 41.

A conductive sleeve 46 is externally fitted to the front end part of thesheath 43, the shielding layer 42 is exposed from the front end of thesheath 43 and externally fitted being folded back at nearly the fronthalf part of the sleeve 46, and a metallic crimping tube 45 is fixed bycrimping conductively to the folded shielding layer 42. The crimpingtube 45 allows the sleeve 46 and the shielding layer 42 to be restrictedin free movement relative to the front end part of the sheath 43.

The flange 38 is fitted conductively to nearly the back half part of thesleeve 46. The flange 38 is formed of a conductive material, and acircular tube 47 with an axis parallel to the shielded wire 44 isintegrated with the flat plate-shaped flange 38 orthogonal to the axisdirection of the shielded wire 44. The flange 38 is provided with a bolthole and fixed conductively to the shielding case 35 by the bolt 36.

The terminal fitting 37 is formed schematically elongate in the depthdirection by bending a metal plate punched into a predetermined shape.The front half part of the terminal fitting 37 is flat plate-shaped,provided with a bolt hole, and fixed to the terminal 32 of theoil-cooled motor body 34 by a bolt 33. The terminal fitting 37 isconnected to the conductor 40 of the shielded wire 44 by crimping.

The casing 39 is integrally formed by resin molding such that the frontend part of the shielded wire 44 are on the entire periphery enclosedwith no space therebetween.

The front half part of the terminal fitting 37 is provided with a smalldiameter part 51 where the outer surface is concaved into a groove onthe entire periphery. The small diameter part 51 is coated withadhesives so as to prevent oil from reaching the conductor 40 of theshielded wire 44.

A rubber O-ring 50 is externally fitted to the insulation 41, the tube47 is provided with grooves on the entire periphery, and the grooves arecoated with the adhesives 52. Thereby, oil can be prevented fromreaching the shielding layer 42 and the crimping tube 45 of the shieldedwire 44.

A sealing groove is formed on the periphery of the casing 39, a rubberO-ring 53 is fitted to the sealing groove. Thereby, oil can be preventedfrom leaking through the space between the shielding case 35 and thecasing 39.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, the oil-cooled motor harness 31 in JP-A-2003-272729 may causethe following problems.

Where the distance between the contact surface with the terminal 32 ofthe terminal fitting 37 and the oil-cooled motor body 34 is defined asL4, and the distance between the contact surface with the terminalfitting 37 of the terminal 32 and the oil-cooled motor body 34 isdefined as L5, it is difficult for L4 and L5 to have the same dimension.In other words, a space (interference) is produced at between theterminal fitting 37 and the terminal 32. When the bolt 33 is tightenedin this state, a load may be applied to the tip portion of the terminalfitting 37, whereby a maximum bending moment acts on the contact part D(contact part F in case of interference, the same shall applyhereinafter) between the casing 39 and the shielding case 35.

As mentioned earlier, the casing 39 is of resin. The resin of the casing39 may cause peeling or cracking near at the contact part D depending onthe size of the space between the terminal fitting 37 and the terminal32. Thereby, oil inside the equipment may reach the shielding layer 42and the crimping tube 45 of the shielded wire 44 so as to reduce theshielding performance.

Furthermore, a bending moment may act on the boundary part E between theterminal fitting 37 and the casing 39. In this case, the resin of thecasing 39 may cause peeling or cracking near at the boundary part E, andthe adhesive may be peeled. This may cause a reduction in theoil-preventing performance for the conductor 40 of the shielded wire 44.

Although a measure may be suggested that enhances the dimension accuracyof L4 and L5 so as to decrease the space between the terminal fitting 37and the terminal 32 as much as possible, it is not desirable since themanufacturing cost increases due to the enhancement of the dimensionaccuracy.

It is an object of the invention to provide an oil-cooled equipmentharness that can suppress the reduction in the oil-preventingperformance without increasing the manufacturing cost.

(1) According to one embodiment of the invention, an oil-cooledequipment harness comprises:

a front end to be enclosed in a shielding case of an oil-cooledequipment for connecting to a terminal of a body of the oil-cooledequipment disposed in the shielding case;

a shielded wire comprising a conductor, a shielding layer on a peripheryof the conductor, and a flexibility;

a terminal fitting enclosing a front end part of the shielded wire,connecting to the conductor, and connecting to the terminal of the bodyof the oil-cooled equipment;

a housing enclosing a periphery of the shielded wire a predetermineddistance away from the terminal fitting such that shielded wire isexposed from the terminal fitting, the housing comprising a flange forattaching the housing to the shielding case;

a first oil entry-preventing means disposed at a space between theshielded wire and the terminal fitting for preventing oil in theshielding case from entering into the conductor; and

an oil leak-preventing means disposed at a space between the housing andthe shielding case for preventing the oil in the shielding case fromleaking out of the shielding case,

wherein the terminal fitting and the housing are relatively movable bythe shielded wire exposed at between the terminal fitting and thehousing.

In the above embodiment (1) of the invention, the followingmodifications and changes can be made.

(i) The shielded wire further comprises an insulating elastic memberbetween the conductor and the shielding layer, the terminal fittingcomprises a tubular crimping part on a back end side thereof, and thefirst oil entry-preventing means comprises the insulating elastic membercrimped by the tubular crimping member.

(ii) The shielded wire further comprises an insulating elastic sheath ona periphery of the shielding layer, the terminal fitting comprises atubular crimping part on a back end side thereof, and the first oilentry-preventing means comprises the insulating elastic sheath crimpedby the tubular crimping member.

(iii) The shielding layer is exposed from the shielded wire in thehousing, and conductively fixed to the housing.

(iv) The oil-cooled equipment harness further comprises a second oilentry-preventing means at a position nearer to the shielding case thanthe shielding layer in the housing for preventing the oil in theshielding case from entering into the shielding layer.

Points of the Invention

According to one embodiment of the invention, a oil-cooled equipmentharness is constructed such that it is possible to achieve L2=L1 owingto the flexibility of a shielded wire exposed at between a terminalfitting and a housing on a periphery of the shielded wire, where thedistance between the contact surface of the terminal fitting of theharness with the terminal of the body of an equipment (connecting to theharness) and the body of the equipment is defined as L1, and thedistance between the contact surface of the terminal of the body of theequipment with the terminal fitting of the harness and the body of theequipment is defined as L2. In other words, no space (interference) isproduced at between the terminal fitting and the terminal of the body ofthe equipment. Even when a bolt is tightened in this state, a spacebetween the housing and a shielding case (enclosing the equipment) canbe reduced that may be caused by the bending moment acting on thecontact part A between the housing and the shielding case. Thus, thereduction in the oil-preventing performance can be suppressed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments according to the invention will be explainedbelow referring to the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view showing an oil-cooled equipment harnessin a preferred embodiment according to the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view showing the conventional oil-cooledequipment harness.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of the invention will be described belowreferring to the appended drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view showing an oil-cooled equipment harness1 in a preferred embodiment according to the invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the oil-cooled equipment harness 1 of the embodimentis constructed such that its front end side is enclosed in a shieldingcase 5 of an oil-cooled equipment and connected to a terminal 2 of thebody of the equipment disposed in the shielding case 5. The oil-cooledequipment harness 1 comprises a flexible shielded wire 14 composed atleast of a conductor 10 and a shielding layer 12 on the periphery of theconductor 10, a terminal fitting 7 that encloses the front end side ofthe shielded wire 14, is connected to the conductor 10, and connected tothe terminal 2 of the body of the equipment, a housing 8 that isprovided with a flange 16 to be thereby attached to the shielding case5, and encloses the periphery of the shielded wire 14 a predetermineddistance away from the shielding case 5 so as to expose the shieldedwire 14 from the terminal fitting 7, a first oil entry-preventing means17 disposed at the space between the shielded wire 14 and the terminalfitting 7 for preventing the oil in the shielding case 5 from inflowinginto the conductor 10, an oil leak-preventing means 23 disposed at thespace between the housing 8 and the shielding case 5 for preventing theoil in the shielding case 5 from leaking out of the shielding case 5.The terminal fitting 7 and the housing 8 are installed such that theyare relatively movable through the shielded wire 14 exposed at betweenthe terminal fitting 7 and the housing 8.

The details of the oil-cooled equipment harness 1 will be describedbelow.

As shown in FIG. 1, the oil-cooled equipment harness 1 of the embodimentis connected to the oil-cooled equipment (i.e., an oil-cooled motor)that the body 4 is enclosed in the shielding case 5 of a conductivematerial and the oil for oil-cooling is filled in the shielding case 5.In the shielding case 5, three bus bar-shaped terminals 2 are providedextending from the body 4 such as an oil-cooled motor body. In otherwords, the oil-cooled equipment harness 1 is installed such that thefront end side thereof is enclosed in the shielding case 5 of theequipment and connected to the terminal 2 of the body 4 in the shieldingcase 5.

In this embodiment, the shielded wire 14 is constructed such that theconductor 10 composed of plural thin wires is enclosed by the tubularinsulation 11, the tubular shielding layer 12 of braided wires isdisposed on the periphery of the insulation 11, and the sheath 13encloses the shielding layer 12. At the front end part of the shieldedwire 14, the sheath 13 is removed such that the insulation 11 and theshielding layer 12 are exposed and protruded from the front end of thesheath 13, and the front end part of the insulation 11 is furtherremoved such that the conductor 10 is exposed and protruded from thefront end of the insulation 11.

A conductive sleeve 15 is externally fitted to the front end part of thesheath 13, the shielding layer 12 exposed is externally fitted beingfolded back to the sleeve 15, and the folded shielding layer 12 isconductively fitted by crimping to nearly the back half part of themetallic housing 8. The flange 16 is integrated with the metallichousing 8. The flange 16 is provided with a bolt hole and fixedconductively to the shielding case 5 by a bolt 6.

The front half part of the terminal fitting 7 is flat plate-shaped,provided with a bolt hole, and fixed to the terminal 2 of the oil-cooledmotor body 4 by a bolt 3. The back half part of the terminal fitting 7is formed tubular such that the conductor 10 and the insulation 11 ofthe shielded wire 14 are inserted into the tubular part of the terminalfitting 7 and connected thereto by being crimped at a tubular crimpingpart 24 on the back end side of the terminal fitting 7.

The insulation 11 is formed of an insulating elastic member such thatthe space between the terminal fitting 7 and the insulation 11 can besealed by the repulsive force of the elastic member produced wheninsulation 11 is crimped at the tubular crimping part 24 so as toprevent the oil from entering into the conductor 10 (the first oilentry-preventing means 17). The first oil entry-preventing means 17 maybe a rubber O-ring disposed at between the insulation 11 and theterminal fitting 7. In this case, the inner surface of the terminalfitting 7 is preferably provided with a groove to be engaged with therubber O-ring. This can prevent the oil from entering into the conductor10, e.g., even when the insulation 11 produces no desired repulsiveforce.

As described earlier, in this embodiment, the terminal fitting 7 and thehousing 8 are installed such that they are relatively movable throughthe shielded wire 14 exposed at between the terminal fitting 7 and thehousing 8. Therefore, the difference between the distance an exit (notshown) where the shielded wire 14 exits from the housing 8 and L2 (i.e.,the distance between the contact surface of the terminal 2 of the body 4of the equipment with the terminal fitting 7 and the body 4 of theequipment) is large, the space may occur at the exit and between thehousing 8 and the insulation 11 of the shielded wire 14 such that theoil is likely to enter into the shielding layer 12 through the space.

In the embodiment, a rubber O-ring 20 as a second oil entry-preventingmeans is provided at the position nearer to the shielding case 5 thanthe shielding layer 12 in the housing 8 for preventing the oil in theshielding case 5 from entering into the shielding layer 12.

The rubber O-ring 20 is externally fitted to the insulation 11 so as toseal the space between the housing 8 and the insulation 11 of theshielded wire 14.

A sealing groove is formed on the periphery of the housing 8, and arubber O-ring 23 is fitted to the sealing groove. Thereby, oil can beprevented from leaking through the space between the shielding case 5and the housing 8 (oil leak-preventing means).

Furthermore, adhesives 21 are coated on nearly the back half part of thehousing 8, and the adhesives 21 are covered with a heat shrinkable tube22, so as to prevent water outside of the equipment from reaching intothe shielding layer 12 of the shielded wire 14 and the sleeve 15.

The effects and functions of the oil-cooled equipment harness 1 of theembodiment will be described below.

The housing 8 is provided a predetermined distance L3 away from the endof the terminal fitting 7 on the periphery of the shielded wire 14 suchthat the shielded wire 14 is exposed from the terminal fitting 7.Thereby, in the oil-cooled equipment harness 1, the terminal fitting 7and the housing 8 are installed such that they are relatively (i.e.,mutually) movable through the shielded wire 14 exposed at between theterminal fitting 7 and the housing 8.

Where the distance between the contact surface of the terminal fitting 7with the terminal 2 of the body 4 of the equipment and the body 4 of theequipment is defined as L1, and the distance between the contact surfaceof the terminal 2 of the body 4 of the equipment with the terminalfitting 7 and the body 4 of the equipment is defined as L2, it ispossible to achieve L2=L1 owing to the flexibility of the shielded wire14 between the terminal fitting 7 and the housing 8. In other words, nospace (interference) is produced at between the terminal fitting 7 andthe terminal 2 of the body of the equipment. Even when the bolt 3 istightened in this state, a space between the housing 8 and the shieldingcase 5 can be reduced that may be caused by a bending moment acting onthe contact part A (contact part B in case of interference, the sameshall apply hereinafter) between the housing 8 and the shielding case 5.Thus, the reduction in the oil-preventing performance can be suppressed.

Therefore, the dimension accuracy of L1 and L2 need not be enhanced. Asa result, the reduction in the oil-preventing performance can besuppressed without increasing the manufacturing cost due to theenhancement of the dimension accuracy.

In the embodiment, the first oil entry-preventing means 17 isconstructed such that the sheath 13 is removed at the front end part ofthe shielded wire 14 so as to allow the insulation 11 and the shieldinglayer 12 to be exposed and protrude from the front end of the sheath 13,the front end part of the insulation 11 is removed so as to allow theconductor 10 to be exposed and protrude from the front end of theinsulation 11, and the insulation 11 is crimped at the tubular crimpingpart 24 formed on the back end side of the terminal fitting 7. However,the invention is not limited to this construction. For example, thesheath 13, the shielding layer 12 and the insulation 11 may not beremoved such that the conductor 10, the insulation 11 and the shieldinglayer 12 are not exposed. In this case, the first oil entry-preventingmeans 17 may be modified such that the sheath 13 formed of an insulatingelastic member is crimped by the tubular crimping part 24 formed on theback end side of the terminal fitting 7. In this modification, thesecond oil entry-preventing means can be omitted.

As in the embodiment, the harness connected to the motor is generallythree-phase line for U, V and W phases. In this case, the predetermineddistance L3 between the terminal fitting 7 and the housing 8 can be setto be, e.g., L3=20, 30, 40 [mm] so as to prevent the erroneous assemblyof the three-phase line. Although the oil-cooled equipment harness 1 ofthe embodiment is connected to the three-phase motor, the invention isnot limited to this connection and may apply to all uses for preventingthe erroneous assembly of the oil-cooled equipment harness 1 with plurallines.

The oil-cooled equipment harness 1 according to the invention is notlimited to only use for the oil-cooled motor, and may be used forconnecting to the terminal of a body disposed in an oil-cooledequipment, such as an oil-cooled engine, with oil filled therein.

Although the invention has been described with respect to the specificembodiments for complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims arenot to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying allmodifications and alternative constructions that may occur to oneskilled in the art which fairly fall within the basic teaching hereinset forth.

1. An oil-cooled equipment harness, comprising: a front end to beenclosed in a shielding case of an oil-cooled equipment for connectingto a terminal of a body of the oil-cooled equipment disposed in theshielding case; a shielded wire comprising a conductor, a shieldinglayer on a periphery of the conductor, and a flexibility; a terminalfitting enclosing a front end part of the shielded wire, connecting tothe conductor, and connecting to the terminal of the body of theoil-cooled equipment; a housing enclosing a periphery of the shieldedwire a predetermined distance away from the terminal fitting such thatshielded wire is exposed from the terminal fitting, the housingcomprising a flange for attaching the housing to the shielding case; afirst oil entry-preventing means disposed at a space between theshielded wire and the terminal fitting for preventing oil in theshielding case from entering into the conductor; and an oilleak-preventing means disposed at a space between the housing and theshielding case for preventing the oil in the shielding case from leakingout of the shielding case, wherein the terminal fitting and the housingare relatively movable by the shielded wire exposed at between theterminal fitting and the housing.
 2. The oil-cooled equipment harnessaccording to claim 1, wherein the shielded wire further comprises aninsulating elastic member between the conductor and the shielding layer,the terminal fitting comprises a tubular crimping part on a back endside thereof, and the first oil entry-preventing means comprises theinsulating elastic member crimped by the tubular crimping member.
 3. Theoil-cooled equipment harness according to claim 1, wherein the shieldedwire further comprises an insulating elastic sheath on a periphery ofthe shielding layer, the terminal fitting comprises a tubular crimpingpart on a back end side thereof, and the first oil entry-preventingmeans comprises the insulating elastic sheath crimped by the tubularcrimping member.
 4. The oil-cooled equipment harness according to claim1, wherein the shielding layer is exposed from the shielded wire in thehousing, and conductively fixed to the housing.
 5. The oil-cooledequipment harness according to claim 4, further comprising a second oilentry-preventing means at a position nearer to the shielding case thanthe shielding layer in the housing for preventing the oil in theshielding case from entering into the shielding layer.